Mailing sheet



March 17, 1953 con-1 2,631,773

MAILING SHEET I Filed Aug. 9, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

. 14 4/17 5 7% @f/Jh March 17, 1953 I H. B. coFr-"lN 2,631,773

' MAILING SHEET Filed'Aug. 9, 1946 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7 5o 22.

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IN V EN TOR.

March 17, 1953 B. coF 2,631,773

MAILING SHEET Filed Aug. 9, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. IO FIG. l2

{ Iv T 1:! I "+15 5 I 64 FIGJB 50 2,4, 22 I i FIG. II E \V g Q l/ i I iHG. I4

40 In 44 I "Ill INVENTOR.

#0 5 78/01 (0/513 BY M w M This invention relates liar andreplyenvelope, to blanks therefor constructed'to facilitate printingthereon, and to 1 methods of making such blanks.

it is unnecessary to insert loose enclosures. parts of the circular areso arranged that when :it is opened by the recipient, they will appearand :1 be .read in proper sequence. For example, when Patented Mar. 17,1953 MAILING SHEET Harry Bigelow Coflin, New York, N. Y.

Application August 9, 1:946, Serial No. 689,621

4 Claims.

to a combination circu- 1 It is an object of this invention to provide amailing piece and blank therefor, comprising a single sheet whichmay beprinted in a unitary operation having a detachable portion havingsealing facilities thereon designed to be easily re- 1 moved by therecipient for return dispatch.

In its preferred form the'mailing piece comx'prises 'acircular having aform letter or the like I which may be addressed to the recipient, adis- I play or descriptive .portion, and a detachable return portionincluding. an order blank or the like together with a scalable portionin which a remittance may be enclosed. These parts are printed on asingle sheet which when folded provides a complete mailable advertisingunit so that All the circular is opened, the first page may be a letter;upon turning the page, the display adver- -tising, description andillustration, if any, will "appear. Finally, the recipient will come tothe order blank and return envelope which may be readily removed, filledout, folded and, if required, may receive and hold a check.

It'is a further object to provide a combination :circular-and returnenvelope having a partially 1 openstructure" permitting postalinspection.

' 1 It is also an object of this invention to provide :a. combinationcircular and reply blank constructed insuch manner as to facilitateprinting iathereon in any of the usual processes and by any of the usualprinting procedures, such as l-on 2-on; or 4-on-either work and turn, ornot work and turn."

Another object of this invention is to provide a' circular of the abovecharacter having a de- .-tachable portion upon which the pages of abook- Iet may be easily printed, the booklet being as- -sembled-and heldtherein, in such manner as to be m'ailable.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a blank for preparing'amailing piece including a return envelope portion so formed that it maybe -cut into shape with gummed portions in the proper location to'provide sealing flaps where f A further object of the invention is toprovide a method" of making the'gummed blanks.

A, further object "of the invention is to provide v a blank havingcut-out portions intermediate its edges and so formed as to leavecontinuous outer illustrate the principles of the edges suitable forfeeding to the printing press. Other objects and advantages of theinvention will appear in the course of the. description of certainpreferred embodiments thereof chosen to invention.

'In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in plan 'ofthe front'of one form of circular and-replyenvelope after it'has been printed and cut;

Fig. 2 is a view of the back of the sheet shown :inFigl; Fig. 3 isa'view in a plan of a 4-on work-andturn" circular and return replyenvelope-blank before printing; r

' Fig. 4 is a view in perspective showing a mailing piece folded andready for the first mailing; Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of thedetached portion of the mailing piece partly folded along scored ormarked lines preparatory to sealing for return mailing;

Fig. 6 is a view inperspective of the complete circular illustrating themanner of folding for the first mailing;

Fig. 7 is a view in plan of the front of a modified form of circularafter it has been printed and cut;

Fig. 8 is a view of the back of the circular shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view in plan similar to Fig. 3 of the duplicate blank forthe modified form of circular and reply envelop structure shown inFigs.7 and. 8;

Fig. 10 'is'a perspective-view showing the circular of the formillustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 partially folded;

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the back of the circular folded and ready formailing to the address for first mailing;

Fig. 12 is a view in plan like that of Fig. '7 but illustrating thestructure when used for printa booklet;

Fig. 13 is a view in plan illustrating'the booklet held in the mailingpiece; and

Fig. 14 is'a view in plan showing an alternative style'of reply envelopebefore folding.

The present invention may be embodied in various forms. Figs. 1 and 2show the front and back of a preferred form of the invention. In thisconstruction the circular consists of a sheet .20 comprising two halves22 and 24 separated by a perforated line 26. On the front, the sheet 22provided at the top with an address area for first mailing which willappear when the sheet is folded along the perforated line and the bottomportion (approximately is turned up and the top (approximately /3)folded down over it as shown in Fig. 4. The circular when folded in thisway may be held together in any usual manner as for instance by means ofa label or sticker 28 (Fig. 4), and when held together in this way, itwill be seen that the end of the folded circular is open so that it maybe inspectedby the postal authorities.

On the front of the part 2d of the circular (Fig. 1) appears a letter oradvertising statement pertaining to matter which it is desired to call'first to the attention of the recipient. On the back of the sheet 24(Fig. 2) appears the further continuation of the letter, orsuitable"advertising matter. On the back ofthe part 22 (Fig. 2) appearsan order blank or additional advertising matter, or both. Between theupper and lower approximate thirds is the central part 29 which:"corltains the address to which the reply 'ena-velope is to be sent.This sheet 22 can be separated from. the sheet 24 at the line ofperioration and. folded up in the manner shown in Fig.

' 5. In order tov facilitate such folding, it is pref-- erably scoredalong horizontal lines as indicated at 30 .(Fig. 1) and. is then foldedtransversely along the printed lines indicated at 32. The lines 32may bescored if desired although scoring is 'usually unnecessary. :It ispreferable also to print the fold line and not to score the sheet acrossthe'central part as indicated by the dotted line 34 in Fig. 2 because ifthis part is scored, it shows on-the outside when the circular is sentto the oriiginaladdress and, therefore, presents a less atttractiveappearance than if it is unscored. The edge'of the part of the sheetcontainingv the i return address isprovided with a projecting flapfilo-which is gummed on the front side as shown in Fig. I so that whenthe reply envelope is fold- '-ed:as in Fig. 5,-the gummed flap 36 may befolded over the opposite edge of the envelope and seal thesame; When thecircular is first sent out, "thegummed flap 36 is folded inwardly asshown in Fig. 6 so that it does not project in a way to iinterf'ere'withthe proper mailability of the piece. 1 Fig. 5 shows the preferred formof reply envelope as it is very simple and similar to the V-ma-il-envelope with which the'public is familiar.

Otherways of forming the reply envelope may be employed. For instance,Fig. 14 shows a reply envelope arranged to be folded along scored lines4i! and then along vertical printed or scored lines 42 so as to make adouble folded envelope. It amen sealed by means of the flap M which isgummed on the reverse side from that shown in Fig. 14. Any othersuitable form of reply en- -velope construction may be used.

The form of circular and reply envelope described above comprisesasingle sheet printed or :two pages separated by-a perforated line, onepage being detached to form the reply envelope. In cases where it isdesired to include a longer letteror more advertising, a circular may beused having more than .two pages. Such a construction is shown in Figs.7 and 8, in which the reply envelope portion 22. (Fig. 8) is connectedto a double page comprising portions 5!! and 52 which maybe scored forfolding at 54 and 55. With this-construction, the three portions 22; 50and '52arefolded one upon the other and folded transversely for mailingas shown in Fig. 10. In'this'formof circular, the end is not'open forpostal in'spectionand, therefore, somemeans for temporarily holdin'gfthecircular in the closediposition should be employed. For example, thelower third of the folded circular may be tucked under the outer sheetof the top third of the circular, the corner of which may be trimmed soit will tuck into a slot or cut 60 (Fig. 11) made in the outer sheet ofthe lower third of the circular. This will hold the circular closedsufficiently for mailing but will permit opening for postal inspection;Obviously. any other suitable construction for accomplishing this resultmay be employed.

Figs. 12 and 13 show a form of circular arranged to include a booklet. Asheet of the same shape as that shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is employed, butthe third section 52a instead of being printed with a letter of displayadvertising is printed to form a plurality of pages (8, 12 etc.) whichare then out up and assembled to form a booklet, bound as shown in Fig.13. The whole triple sheet shown in Fig. 12 is first printed on bothsides by any usual printing operations and the booklet section out off.Then. the pages are cut apart and assembled. The booklet may then befastened between sheet portions, 22 and is as shown in Fig. 13. Thepages of the booklet may be joined together and at the same time thebooklet may be united to the circularin any suitable manner as by useofa gummed sticker or by a single saddle stitch indicated at 66 in Fig.13. If desired, the line perforations 26 may be broken opposite tortheplace where the booklet isattached so as to leave an unperforatedsection to which the booklet may be. attached and more firmly held tothe circular. When sheets Hand 53 are separated, however, the bookletwill become detached and may be retained'by the recipient of the letterwho then fills out'the order blank and returns'the reply envelope, ofwhich the order blank is a part. i

The'form of circular shown in Figs. 12 and'13 provides a booklet at theleast possible expense,

' as it may be printed at the same time thatthe rest of theadvertisement and return envelope are printed.

An important feature of the present invention relates to improvements inblanks upon which'the circulars are described may be printed and tomethods of preparing such blanks. As is evident, a major-object of thepresent invention is to provide for the preparation of the circularswith reply envelopes attached at'the lowest possible cost. If a replyenvelope is to be used to hold a remittancadt is necessaryfor suchenvelope to have a gumm'ed'flap enabling it to be sealed." Thedifficulty of providi'n'gblanks with gummed flaps thereon. hasbeen'considerable because the application of'a' small patch iof gum to ablank has involved extra operations and costs. In accordance with thepresent invention, sheets are prepared which are gummed continuously'asthe paper is fed'from'a roll and the sheets are then cut and excessg'umm'ed paper is removed by die cutting so as to provide gummed flapsof the proper shapei 5 Furthermore, the sheets are cut'in such a way asto providecontinuous edges which will not interfere -with the properfeeding or. thedie'cut'jsheets through the printing presses.

Fig. 3 shows a multipleblank of'properform for printing the circulars ofthe form shown-in Figs. 1 and 2. As shownin these figures, the sheetwill make four circulars, the arrangement shown being such thatzall fourcirculars may be printed, first on one-side, and then on. theother;.work;and;-.turn.1". .--;The-zsheets are preferably prepared by feedingthe paper from a roll (not :shown) the paper comingfrom the roll havinga continuous narrow strip of gum applied longitudinally. to each sideofthe center part of the side. -'By leaving such a-narrow ungummed cen-"tral strip, danger of overlapping of the two gummed. strips is avoidedSuch overlapping jwould res'ult -in -aportion .ef the paper being-g'ummd' onboth sides which would be objectionable for reasonswhichwwfll apear. The paper comingfrom the roll," gummedas described, istreated in such manner as to dry the gum, after which it is cut intosheets-of suitable sizefsuch as shown in Fig. 3 or Fig. 9. The sheet asshown in Fig. 3 or Fig. 9 is then placed in a suitable machine or pressby which the desired score lines or perforations are applied, andcertain portions of the paper are removed by die cutting. In the sheetshown (Fig. 3), the portions removed are indicated at H0, H2, H4, H6, H8and I20. Between the cut-out portions III] and H2, H2 and H4, H6 and H8,and H8 and I20, gummed portions remain forming the flaps 36 of twoadjacent circulars placed end to end. When these circulars are cutapart, each will be provided with a fla gummed on the proper side. Owingto the narrow ungummed space I I14 above described, the flaps maybe'readily cut apart without danger of either flap having an edge of gumon the wrong side. The ungummed edge of strip I04 may be readily trimmedfrom the flap if necessary. Be-

vide two smaller sheets each with continuous edges in case the printerdesires to use a sheet smaller than the full size of that shown in Fig.3. After the sheets have been printed the marginal portions I26 whichcontain the bridge portions I22 and I22a are trimmed ofi along lines I28and the individual printed circulars may then be cut apart alonghorizontal lines I30 and vertical lines I32 so as to provide theindividual circulars printed and ready for folding, each circular beingprovided with its gummed tab 36. The formation of the gummed tabs bygumming continuous narrow strips on opposite sides of the paper as itcomes from the roll is a very economical way of applying the gum andavoids the costly process of printing each sheet with patches of gumwhich must be dried before the sheet can be further utilized. Byprovidin the bridge portions I22 and I22a, the sheets, although havingportions removed by die cutting, still present straight continuous edgeswhich enable the sheets to be fed rapidly to the printing press withoutany difliculty due to irregular form. The circulars may thus becompletely prepared and printed in the simplest and cheapest possiblemanner. Usually the blank sheets are prepared in the form shown in Fig.3 by the paper maker, the paper converter orijobbe'r and are furnishedto the local printer in this form. The printer then simply has to putthe sheet .in the press and print the desired copy thereon. He

then cuts the sheet into the individual printed circulars which areready for folding and mailing. The advertiser has merely to fold andaddress the sheets and does not have to assemble numerous separateinserts and place them-"inan envelope. This saves much labor, avoids thepossibility of some of the inserts being omittediand furthermore, whenthe circular is received bythe .lrecipient, all of the material is soarranged as to "be presented to him in proper order and in much -moreconvenient form than where he receives an envelope with several loosepieces of printedmatter therein. He isalso provided with an order blankand returnenvelope inwhich'he may'enclose a remittance; The advertiseris thus able to send out a mailing piece containing all essentialelements arranged in-a most desirable manner and procured at a minimumof cost.

While I have illustrated and described in detail certain preferred formsof my invention, it is to be understood that changes may be made thereinand the invention embodied in other structures. I do not, therefore,desire to limit myself to the specific constructions illustrated, butintend to cover my invention broadly in whatever form its principles maybe embodied.

What I claim is:

1. A combination circular, booklet and reply envelope comprising twosheets folded one upon the other along a perforated line, one of saidsheets being divided into upper, middle and lower panels by fold linestransverse to said perforated line, a multiple page booklet secured atits hinge line to said folded sheets adjacent to the perforated linetherebetween, said booklet being located between the fold lines andbeing of a width not greater than the distance between said fold lines,one of said panels having a gummed flap thereon.

2. A combination letter, booklet, order blank and reply envelopecomprising a plurality of sheets separable along a perforated linebetween the sheets, the first page of the first sheet comprising aletter, the second page of the first sheet comprising an advertisement,the second sheet comprising a plurality of panels divided by fold lines,at least one panel of the first page of the second sheet comp-rising anorder blank, at least one panel on said page having a designated replyaddress space thereon, at least one panel having on its opposite face adesignated sending address space, said second sheet having a gummedsealing flap projecting from the edge of the panel having the designatedreply address space thereon, and a multiple page booklet detachablysecured at its hinge line to said folded sheets adjacent to saidperforated line and arranged to overlie the panel of the page having thedesignated reply address space thereon, said booklet being locatedbetween the fold lines of said panel and being of a width not greaterthan the distance between said fold lines.

3. A blank for having a plurality of letter and return envelope formsprinted thereon, said blank having a line of cut-out portions extendingacross it near the middle thereof and joined tab portions between thecut-out portions, each tab portion having a gummed area thereon, thegummed areas on each pair of joined tab portions being on opposite sidesof the paper, the gummed area on oneside not overlapping the gummed*area'. on the other side, said blank having persheetsfoldable on saidperforated lines, the sheet portions having the joined tab portionsbeing divided into panels by fold. lines extending at right anglesbetween said line of cut-out portions and said perforated lines, saidtabportions corresponding in width with the corresponding panel portions towhich they are attached.

4. A blank as claimed in claim 3, in which one panel from which no tabprojects of each tabbed and perforated unit has a designated sending ad-.dress space on one face thereof and in which the panel of said unitwhich has the tab projecting therefrom'carries a reply address space onthe op- Y posite facethereof from the face of the sheet oarrying thesending address space.

HARRY BIGELOW COFFIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the the ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 738,381 West Sept. 8,1903867,613 Scragg Oct. 8; 1907 386,449 West l- May 5, 1908 1,291,889Hopkins Jan. 21, 1919 1,319,440 Veitch Oct. 21, 1919 1,561,454 Ashby sNov. 17, 1925 1,572,392 Koehrman Feb. 9, 1926 1,762,084 Snyder June 3,1930 1,871,774. Blum. et a1 Aug. 16, 1932 1385,1941 Smith Dec. 18, 19342,351,805 Bonnaire June 20, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date392,819 France Oct. 7, 1908

